To Build the Economy, Build Bridges—Literally

[Omaha Steve]

http://blog.aflcio.org/2008/03/12/to-build-the-economy-build-bridgesliterally/

by Mike Hall, Mar 12, 2008

Whether you call it a recession or serious slow down, the nation’s economy is in deep, deep trouble.



Most economists say the tax rebate checks that are part of the fiscal stimulus package approved by Congress last month, along with the recent interest rate cuts initiated by the Federal Reserve Board and the other measures will help in easing some of the worst effects of the economic meltdown. But as AFL-CIO Chief Economist Ron Blackwell told a U.S. Senate committee yesterday:

They are not sufficient…to avert recession, nor do they deal with the fundamental economic imbalances at the root of the current economic crisis.

Appearing before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, Blackwell told the committee that the next step to rebuild the broken economy should be a second stimulus package that includes rebuilding the nation’s crumbling infrastructure.

The new package should also include an extension of unemployment insurance, expansion of the food stamp program and federal aid to states and cities to prevent further cutbacks of vital public services.

We also support front-loading public investment in infrastructure to maintain our schools and repair crumbling bridges and deteriorating highways. Spending that puts people to work on projects we desperately need is more likely to stimulate the domestic economy than tax cuts that may be saved or spent largely on imported consumer goods.

Congress has approved billions of dollars of school repair and transportation projects that now are in the pipeline. Getting those up and running could relatively quickly create tens of thousands of jobs in an economy that has been shedding jobs since the beginning of the year.

FULL story at link.